College choices: He has not made any visits yet but is thinking about premed, engineering and business as courses of study and playing baseball.

Question: Tell us about your trip to Honduras.

Answer: My parents, Steli and Tim, have taught me never to take anything for granted. I’m dedicated to my faith. The medical mission trip was my freshman year with my dad to give medical dental work to the poor. We met people who had never seen a doctor. There were terrible medical issues. I was 14 years old, and I saw at that age that what we go through here is pretty minor. The trip was through Central College Presbyterian Church.

Q: Did you have any idea what you would see?

A: My father and brothers, Luke and Ben, went down years before and gave me a little heads-up. But it’s something you have to see and experience first-hand to understand.

Q: What are your school activities?

A: I’m in Junior Mentoring, which helps eighth-graders cope with the pressures of entering high school. I’m also in Interact, which is a school community service organization. We’ll fill (grocery) bags for the poor. We have charity events, too. The last one was at my church for the holidays for underprivileged children. We provided them with clothes.

Q: What do you do outside school?

A: Baseball. I also enjoy fitness, like weightlifting. My brothers are my best friends, and we spend a lot of time together. My parents said my brothers are the best gifts they could have given me. Oh, there have been rivalries growing up. I learned how to be tough. We tussled a little bit, but that was good. We learned how to be great competitors. (Ben is a graduate student at Ohio State. He was a punter. Luke plays tennis at Capital.)

Q: Why the medical field as a college interest?

A: My father is a family physician. He always talks about his love for the field. There’s the dental field, too. You make people smile. What can be better than that? I’m interested in engineering because I think I’m strong in math and science. I have time to decide.

Q: You have had four concussions.

A: I got a concussion last Saturday playing baseball. I had two playing little league football. Last summer, I got one in baseball. This past concussion resulted when I dove back into second base. The catcher threw behind me trying to pick me off. The second baseman was blocking the bag a little too much and my head went into a knee. I don’t remember much else. I didn’t get knocked out.

Q: Do concussions scare you for the long-term?

A: Yes. I hear about the new studies coming out, but I love playing sports. I’m a pitcher and outfielder. I bat fourth. I was an all-conference golfer my first two years in high school, but I gave it up to concentrate on baseball. I wanted to do what my dad did. My dad was a left-handed pitcher in the Pirates’ minor-league organization. He had a career-ending injury. My dad got me interested. It’s the American game. It is a hard sport, but I love it.

Q: How do you cope with so much failure in baseball?

A: You have to understand that things will even out. The baseball gods will smile on you eventually.

Q: You mentioned that you can pack away food.

A: My mom makes great meals every single night. I eat a lot. Let’s just say she spends ridiculous amounts of money on groceries feeding three boys. I eat everything in sight.

Q: What courses are you taking?

A: AP calculus, AP world history, AP English and honors chemistry and honors Spanish IV. I know it’s a lot of work, but I try to be as efficient with my time as possible. I don’t want to be up until midnight every night. Sleep is important (smiles). Managing school and baseball can be difficult, but I go right at it.